2026 Mountain Pacific Sports Federation (MPSF) Championships
- Dates: Tuesday, February 25–Saturday, February 28
- Location: City of Pharr-PSJA Natatorium, Pharr, TX
- Defending Champions: Pepperdine women (1x); Pacific men (1x)
- Women’s teams: Cal Baptist*, Idaho*, Incarnate Word, New Mexico State*, Northern Arizona*, Northern Colorado*, Pacific, Pepperdine, UNLV*, Utah Tech*, UTRGV*
- Men’s teams: Air Force*, Cal Baptist*, Incarnate Word, Pacific, UNLV, Wyoming*
- SwimSwam Fan Guide
- Championship Central
- Psych Sheet
- Live Results
- Live Video
SCHEDULE
Wednesday (2/25)
- 200 medley relay
- Women’s 1-meter diving
- 800 free relay
- Men’s 3-meter diving
Thursday (2/26)
- 200 free relay
- Men’s 1-meter diving
- 500 free
- 200 IM
- 50 free
- Women’s 3-meter diving
Friday (2/27)
- 100 fly
- 400 IM
- 200 free
- 100 breast
- 100 back
- Men’s platform diving
- 400 medley relay
Saturday (2/28)
- 1650 free
- 200 back
- 100 free
- 200 breast
- 200 fly
- Women’s platform diving
- 400 free relay
WOMEN’S PREVIEW
The 2026 Mountain Pacific Sports Federation Swimming & Diving Championships will look drastically different than they did in 2025 after adding seven programs from the Western Athletic Conference (WAC) in the offseason: Cal Baptist, Idaho, New Mexico State, Northern Arizona (NAU), Northern Colorado, UTRGV, and Utah Tech.
Six of those are women’s-only teams, with Cal Baptist being the lone school that has men’s and women’s swim & dive teams.
So after the 2025 championships only had a four-team field on the women’s side, there will be 10 this year. The San Diego Toreros, last year’s runners-up behind Pepperdine, have moved to the Big West.
The Waves may be the defending MPSF champions, but NAU is the reigning WAC champions and might be the team to beat this year in their new conference.
The Lumberjacks are known for their diving prowess, and that was on full display last year. Prior to the 2025 WAC Championships, NAU ranked 2nd in the Swimulator behind Grand Canyon, trailing by 7.5 points, but they ended up winning the title by a whopping 160.5 points over New Mexico State.
NAU had 15 athletes score 20 or more points at the 2025 WAC Championships, and six of them were divers. Although they lose leading scorer Victoria Knapp to graduation, the Lumberjacks return seniors Grace Wesche, Margaret Wesche and Mackenna Stocker, who combined for 124.5 diving points last year.
NAU won a total of four events at last year’s WAC meet—Knapp being responsible for two of them—and the only returning champion for the team is Elsa Musselman.
Musselman claimed the 100 fly title in her junior year in a time of 53.45, just shy of her 53.16 PB set in 2024, and so far this season she’s been as fast as 54.33, ranking her 2nd in the MPSF behind Northern Colorado’s Ellyson Lombardi.
Lombardi, an Italian junior, was 3rd in the 200 fly and 4th in the 100 fly at last year’s WAC Championships, but leads the MPSF in both races so far this season with respective times of 53.84 and 1:59.32. Musselman notably ranks 2nd in the 200 fly, though she’s over two seconds back at 2:01.55.
The swimmer projected to lead the women’s meet in points is Idaho junior Ginger Kiefer, the reigning WAC champion in the 200 back (1:55.07), 200 IM (1:58.35) and 400 IM (4:13.43), who ranks 1st in all three events in the MPSF this season.
Kiefer has posted respective times of 1:58.62 in the 200 back, 2:00.87 in the 200 IM and 4:20.26 in the 400 IM so far this season, making her the clear favorite for another sweep this season. Her biggest challenge figures to come in the 200 back, where NAU’s Gracie Munk, who posted a time of 1:59.77 (1:58.17 altitude adjusted) in late January during a dual with Utah Tech.
The team sitting atop the Swimulator scoring ranks is New Mexico State, and they’ve got three swimmers projected to score 45+ points.
Leading the way is senior Katie Rink, the reigning WAC champion in the 200 free, who leads the MPSF in the 500 free so far this season in 4:51.57. She owns a best time of 4:46.66, set in November 2024, and placed 3rd at last year’s WAC meet in 4:49.80.
In the 200 free, Rink set a personal best of 1:48.40 en route to winning last year’s title, and she’s been as fast as 1:49.67 so far this season, ranking her 3rd behind Pacific’s Christina Agiomamitou (1:48.32) and New Mexico State teammate Dijana Mazumdar (1:48.46).
Rink also ranks 2nd this season in the conference in the 1650 free, though her time of 17:01.65 puts her nearly 20 seconds shy of Northern Colorado’s Kyra Rabess (16:42.20). Rabess is also seeded 2nd in the 500 free (4:52.39) and tied for 3rd with Rink in the 200 free (1:49.67).
In addition to ranking 3rd in the 200 free, Mazumdar is seeded 1st in the 100 free (49.97) and 6th in the 50 free (23.11), while another NM State swimmer, Kodi Wiman, ranks 3rd in the 100 breast (1:02.53), 200 breast (2:14.68) and 200 IM (2:04.23).
Another name to keep an eye on is Northern Colorado senior Maria Erokhina, a Cyprus native who ranks atop the MPSF this season in the 100 breast (1:01.57) and 200 breast (2:13.27), both personal best times.
RACES TO WATCH
200 Free
The 200 free is one of the few events that features the defending MPSF champion, the reigning WAC champion, and should be a close race for the title.
Pacific sophomore Christina Agiomamitou won the 2025 MPSF crown in a time of 1:51.19, a personal best at the time, but in the last 12 months, she’s drastically improved, bringing her PB down to 1:48.32 during a tri-meet with Simon Fraser and Cal State East Bay in late January. One week later, at a dual meet against UC Davis, she clocked 1:48.77, showing good form and consistency heading into the championship season.
The reigning WAC champion in the 200 free is New Mexico State’s Katie Rink, who set a personal best of 1:48.40 en route to winning that title. Rink sits in a tie for 3rd this season alongside Northern Colorado’s Kyra Rabess in 1:49.67, while New Mexico State’s Dijana Mazumdar ranks 2nd at 1:48.46, though she is officially the top seed coming into the meet with a time of 1:47.96 (the altitude-adjusted version of her 1:48.46 swim).
Between those four, plus another Aggie, reigning WAC 500 free winner Naomi Slee, who owns a personal best of 1:48.83, the 200 free figures to be a barn-burner.
100 Breast
The 100 breast will be a showdown between seniors Maria Erokhina and Cydnie Perkins, who come in as the only women in the field who have broken 1:02 this season.
Erokhina, a Northern Colorado Bear, clocked 1:01.57 at altitude earlier this month in a dual with Utah Tech, which adjusts to 1:01.47—under her official best time of 1:01.52 set in 2023. The Cyprus native was 5th in a close final at the 2025 WAC Championships in 1:01.74, and she does have a conference-winning pedigree, having won the 200 breast WAC title in 2024.
Erokhina is the top returner from the 2025 WAC final, with the podium having been swept by GCU and 4th-place finisher Birgitta Ingolfsdottir of Northern Colorado graduating.
Perkins, who competes for NAU, was 10th in the 100 breast at last year’s WAC meet in a time of 1:03.38, but has reached a new level this season, notably clocking a personal best of 1:01.72 (1:01.57 altitude-adjusted) in an early November dual meet. She’s produced several 1:02-lows since then, including going 1:02.41 (1:02.31 adjusted) a few weeks later at the team’s midseason invitational, so the question will be if she can hit her taper and recreate that breakout swim from early in the season.
Incarnate Word junior Jada Ashford, the defending MPSF champion, comes in as the 6th seed after setting a personal best of 1:02.75 in November. NAU’s Trelise Dance (1:02.41), and the New Mexico State duo of Kodi Wiman (1:02.53) and Foteini Charitou (1:02.75), will be her biggest challengers for the third step on the podium.
200 Medley Relay
The 200 medley relay will set the tone at the beginning of the meet, and it projects to come down to the wire with three teams capable of going 1:40-point.
Northern Arizona leads the conference this season after clocking 1:40.77 in a head-to-head dual meet with New Mexico State (1:42.08), while Northern Colorado sits just three one-hundredths back with a time of 1:40.80 from the Magnus Cup Invitational.
The Aggies have been as fast as 1:41.61 this season, but more importantly, return all four swimmers from their 1:40.29 clocking at the 2025 WAC Championships that earned them 3rd place. The key for them may be Emily Dobbins, who split 23.60 on fly last year but was only 24.72 in the relay at the Magnus Cup in November.
Cal Baptist is the reigning WAC champion, but lost half of their roster from that winning squad and comes in seeded 7th at 1:43.00.
2025 RESULTS
- Pepperdine, 853
- San Diego, 841.5
- Pacific, 706.5
- Incarnate Word, 507
SWIMSWAM PREDICTIONS
- Northern Arizona
- New Mexico State
- Northern Colorado
NAU’s got the right mix of swimming depth, solid relays and standout divers that we’re predicting they claim the MPSF title in their conference debut, though it’s likely to be a lot closer than their margin of victory at the 2025 WAC Championships with the loss of star diver Victoria Knapp.
New Mexico State had 11 double-digit scorers at last year’s conference meet, and they return all of them, with Katie Rink, Kodi Wiman, Dijana Mazumdar and Emily Dobbins leading the charge.
Northern Colorado was 6th at last year’s WAC Championships, but finished just 16.5 points back of 4th-place Cal Baptist.
The Lancers are very strong on the boards, but the Bears have seemingly leveled up their performance in the pool this year, highlighted by owning the #1 or #2 seed in all five relays, so we’re giving them the edge in the race for 3rd.
MEN’S PREVIEW
Four of the six men’s teams competing in last year’s WAC Championships infiltrate the MPSF this season, joining Pacific and Incarnate Word, who were the only two squads competing last February.
Pacific edged out Incarnate Word by 41 points to claim the 2025 MPSF title, but 2026 marks a new era with the four newcomers projected to occupy the top four spots in the standings.
The reigning WAC champions are the UNLV Rebels, who lose their top scorer from last season in Daniel Nicusan, but bring back their next three highest scoring swimmers in Colby Raffel, Wikus Potgieter and Ian Belflower, plus reigning 200 free WAC champion Ambrus Barcsak.
The Rebels also have Bryson Huey, who didn’t compete last season but won the 2024 WAC title in the 50 free, giving them a team that will be formidable this week.
On paper, Belflower is projected to lead UNLV in points as the top seed in the 100 fly (46.89) and 200 fly (1:43.94) while also ranking 6th in the 200 IM. Huey is seeded 1st in the 50 free (19.02), sits 2nd to Belflower in the 100 fly (46.92) and also ranks 4th in the 100 free.
UNLV diver Alejandro Vazquez, who won the 3-meter event at the 2025 WAC Championships and scored 49 points, is listed as a junior on the team’s roster this season but is not entered in the meet according to the psych sheets.
A big part of the Rebels’ conference victory last season was due to relay success, winning titles in the 200 medley and 800 free relay to kick off the meet on a major high note, and so far this season, they rank 1st in the MPSF in three (200 medley, 400 medley, 400 free) and 2nd in another (200 free), putting them in a great position to claim the conference title.
Cal Baptist placed 2nd to UNLV at the 2025 WAC Championships, falling shy by just 26 points, and they lose three of their top six scorers from that meet, most notably Remi Fabiani, who is finding plenty of success over at Arizona State.
The Lancers will be relying heavily on their diving prowess, which is headlined by Mario Del Valle, who scored 56 points last season after booking wins in the 1-meter and platform events, and Gael Jimenez, who scored 50 after placing in the top three in all three events.
If we pencil in the 143 points divers Del Valle, Jimenez and John Angelovic (37) scored last season, Cal Baptist moves into the 600-point range, which is still fewer than Air Force, Wyoming and UNLV are projected for in the Swimulator.
Air Force sits atop the projected swimming standings thanks to having five men seeded to score 40 or more points, led by Camden Swigart, who is the reigning WAC champion in the 400 IM and also placed 4th in the 200 IM and 8th in the 1650 free last year.
Swigart and teammate James Winterfield form a strong duo in the 200 IM, coming into the meet this week seeded 2nd and 3rd behind Wyoming freshman Jackson Kogler, who owns the top time in the conference in both the event (1:44.46) and also ranks 1st in the 400 IM over Swigart at 3:45.39.
Swigart is also entered in the 200 breast, where he’s seeded 3rd with teammate Tanner Wilson sitting atop the psych sheets. Wilson, the top returner and 5th-place finisher in the 2025 WAC final in both the 100 breast and 200 breast, is the clear-cut favorite to sweep the breast events this season as the top seed in the 100 (52.51) and 200 (1:55.41) by wide margins.
Winterfield will also be a valuable contributor, currently seeded in the top four of four different events (200 IM, 100 fly, 200 free and 200 fly), though he’ll have to drop one from his schedule (likely the 200 free) when the meet gets going. He was 2nd in the 200 IM, 3rd in the 200 fly and 4th in the 100 fly last season and should have very similar results in his senior year.
Air Force also has junior Joe Christ, who is seeded in the top five in the 100 and 200 free, and freshman Matthew Doty, who is a top-five seed in both IMs, who project to score big swimming points, while freshman diver Lucas Gerten is the top seed in two events and ranks 2nd in another (per the psych sheets), which should be a big boost for the Falcons. They return their top-scoring diver from last year, Brady Nichol (32 points), along with Jack Roby (20 points), but lose 26-point scorer Alexander Kenyon.
Wyoming, which was a distant 5th last season at the WAC Championships, has four newcomers who help them jump up to 2nd in Swimulator scoring, though two teams seeded behind them, UNLV and Cal Baptist, have the edge in diving.
The Cowboys will be led by Kogler, a freshman, who is the top seed in the 200 IM (1:44.46) and 400 IM (3:45.39) and also ranks 3rd in the 200 back. They’ve also got LSU transfer Simon Casey holding the top seed in the 200 free (1:33.92) and 200 back (1:42.46), Auburn transfer Isaac Lee ranking 1st in the 500 free (4:22.40) and 1650 free (15:03.74) coming in, and Ohio State transfer seeded 2nd in the 200 free and 3rd in the 500.
RACES TO WATCH
100 Fly
The 100 fly field is crowded at the top of the psych sheets with nine men seeded within one second of each other, led by UNLV senior Ian Belflower, who has been 46.89 this season after placing 3rd in the 2025 WAC final (46.77).
His junior teammate Wikus Potgieter is the top returner from last year’s WAC meet, having been the runner-up in 46.59, and so far this season, he’s been 47.09, seeded him 3rd.
UNLV grad senior Bryson Huey joins Belflower under 47 seconds so far this season, seeded 2nd in 46.95 (what he went at the Minnesota Invite), though he set a best time of 46.93 in early October.
Beyond the top three seeds, we’ve also got Air Force senior James Winterfield (47.13), Cal Baptist fifth-year Tyler Mansheim (47.41) and UNLV sophomore Emil Perez (47.48) all in the hunt for a top finish with season-bests under 47.5. Winterfield was 4th, Mansheim was 6th and Perez was 8th last season in the WAC final.
200 Back
The 200 back field features the 2025 WAC runner-up, UNLV’s Tatsuki Inoue, and Wyoming junior Simon Casey set to go head-to-head.
Casey is the big favorite after dropping a lifetime best of 1:42.46 at the Mizzou Invite, improving on his previous mark of 1:43.78 set at the 2025 SEC Championships. He backed up his swim in Missouri by clocking 1:43.64 in December at the UNLV Invite.
Inoue placed 2nd at last season’s WAC meet in 1:43.74, and he’s coming off setting a new lifetime best of 1:43.29 at the UNLV First Chance meet just over one week ago. If he can carry that taper into these championships, a 1:42 swim could be in the cards.
We also can’t overlook Wyoming’s Kogler, the freshman who has been 1:43.44 so far this season, and Cal Baptist junior Eli Rollen, who set a PB of 1:43.61 at the Trailblazer Invite in November.
200 Free Relay
Cal Baptist ran away with the 200 free relay title at the 2025 WAC Championships, but they’ve lost three-quarters of that squad, opening the door for Wyoming and UNLV to take over in one of the most exciting events of any college championship meet.
The Cowboys lead the MPSF this season with a time of 1:17.89 from the Mizzou Invite, which included Casey (19.89) on the lead-off leg and three more splits 19.42 or faster, highlighted by Luke O’Connor‘s 19.17 anchor.
The Rebels are one one-hundredth back, having gone 1:17.90 at the Minnesota Invite with a solid quartet of Huey (19.31), Perez (19.51), Potgieter (19.67) and Belflower (19.41).
With Huey leading off and likely giving them clear water, that could be the edge that UNLV needs to overcome Wyoming, but this one projects to come down to the wire.
2025 RESULTS
- Pacific, 331
- Incarnate Word, 290
SWIMSWAM PREDICTIONS
- UNLV
- Air Force
- Wyoming
UNLV’s mix of high-end individual swimming scorers, strong relays and diving should help push them to the MPSF title this season after winning the WAC crown in 2025.
The loss of Daniel Nicusan should be offset by Bryson Huey — the big question for the Rebels will be diver Alejandro Vazquez missing from the entry lists pre-meet. Without him, the door opens for Air Force to make a push.
The Falcons have all bases covered in the pool, and the performance of freshman diver Lukas Gerten could be a major key in their pursuit of the title.
Cal Baptist’s losses are significant—four of their top six scorers from last year—and Wyoming’s additions in the pool are massive, which is why we’ve put the Cowboys up into 3rd after they were 5th at the WAC Championships.
